April 4, 2009Jersey, GA
Tessa took the Natural Ability test today, and got Prize II with a score of 87.
The score is not as high as I know it could have been, and her track was definitely sub-par , but Tessa scored high enough in each category to qualify for Prize II; given her lack of training and both of our inexperience, I am very proud of my girl.
The NAVHDA Natural Ability test is designed to test, well, the natural hunting ability of young dogs of up to 16 months old. Its name, suggesting that no training is needed as just the instinct is tested, is misleading. In all fairness to the dog, some training, conditioning, awakening of those instincts should be done. We did plenty of conditioning but had only one training session with
game birds, two weeks before the test. Ideally, I should have trained her for another three months and entered her at 1 year old but this was the last test within reach for us before she hits the age limit in October, so we went for it. The test was booked, but there was a last minute cancellation, and after a mad dash for the required paperwork, we were added to the schedule.
Water Phase
The score is not as high as I know it could have been, and her track was definitely sub-par , but Tessa scored high enough in each category to qualify for Prize II; given her lack of training and both of our inexperience, I am very proud of my girl.
The NAVHDA Natural Ability test is designed to test, well, the natural hunting ability of young dogs of up to 16 months old. Its name, suggesting that no training is needed as just the instinct is tested, is misleading. In all fairness to the dog, some training, conditioning, awakening of those instincts should be done. We did plenty of conditioning but had only one training session with
game birds, two weeks before the test. Ideally, I should have trained her for another three months and entered her at 1 year old but this was the last test within reach for us before she hits the age limit in October, so we went for it. The test was booked, but there was a last minute cancellation, and after a mad dash for the required paperwork, we were added to the schedule.
Water Phase- Nose: 3 x 6 = 18 (max 24)
- Search: 3 x 5 = 15 (max 20)
- Pointing: 3 x 4 = 12 (max 16)
- Desire: 3 x 4 = 12 (max 16)
- Cooperation: 3 x 2 = 6 (max 8)
- Tracking: 2 x 2 = 4 (max 8) Bummer!
- Water: 4 x 5 = 20 (max 20) Yay!
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